Elon Musk said in a social media post earlier Wednesday that he regretted some of the posts and comments about President Trump last week, which led the president to devalue the tech billionaire, a hatred that played in real time on social media.
Mr. Musk said on X that some of his posts about Mr. Trump “goed too far.”
Mr. Musk, the world’s wealthiest man, was once one of the president’s closest advisers, overseeing major efforts to cut spending and reduce the size of the federal workforce. But the drama and public failure of him and Mr. Trump after the Tesla CEO left the administration.
Both traded barbs on social media, and Trump said last week that he had no interest in fixing the relationship.
Mr. Musk’s public expression of regret is another sign of potential melting in the standoff with the president. Even last week, Mr. Musk agreed with an article on X that suggested the two were “more powerful together.” Mr. Musk has since deleted his most burning social media posts. Mr. Trump also downplayed some of his public criticisms of Mr. Musk.
The protests in Los Angeles also highlighted the key issue that two people agreed to: immigration. In recent days, Mr. Musk has used his social media platform to oppose Mr. Trump’s rhetoric about the protests and the need to respond strongly to the administration.
Mr Musk’s post on Wednesday highlighted the complex dynamics between the two. Mr. Musk, the largest donor in Republican politics, raised about $275 million to Trump’s re-election campaign. He also has more followers than anyone else on the social media platform X he owns.
But Mr. Trump has great political power over Mr. Musk. The billionaire company, especially Tesla and Space X, has won billions of dollars in federal contracts in recent years. As two men colluded online last week, Mr. Trump threatened to cut them off as a way to “save money” in the federal budget.
In 2023 alone, Mr. Musk’s company promised to sign a $3 billion federal contract from 17 federal agencies. Many federal agencies are investigating or prosecuting Musk.
The two allies have been urging them to reconcile. Spit initially focused on Mr. Musk’s criticism of Mr. Trump’s domestic policy bill, which he condemned as a “noisy abhorrence” because it would greatly increase national debt. But the dispute quickly turned into trivial and eccentric attacks.
For example, Mr. Musk suggested that the Trump administration did not publish archives on embarrassing financier Jeffrey Epstein because Mr. Trump was in it. Mr. Trump has asked why Mr. Musk did not wear makeup to cover up his dark eyes during his Oval Office appearance last week.
The social media struggle is because Mr. Musk promises to take a step back and refocus on his company, which faces important moments for their future.
Tesla has seen its sales sluggish globally as Musk’s politics has become a pressure on car brands. In the United States, Germany, Norway, the Netherlands and France, sales have declined while other electric car manufacturers are gaining ground.
Tesla will also face major testing later this month, when the company is expected to debut in its new self-driving taxi fleet in Austin, Texas, called Robotaxi.
Mr. Musk’s space company SpaceX also faces key challenges. The company is developing the largest and most powerful rocket ever. So far, the test flight results have mixed results.
